Berlin's Walls
by Rockstar River
Summary: Berlin is the new girl in Detroit. When she becomes friends with Jack Mercer her life changes forever. But she has a secret and if Jack finds out it will destroy her perfect lies. Will he be able to help her rip down her walls? Or will it be too late?
1. Chapter 1

**Note: **This is my second Four Brothers Fanfic. I'm currently writing a different story called Wanderer, but I'm suffering from some MAJOR writers block right now on that one. This plot came into my head this morning, so I'll work on this and hopefully come up with something to add to my other story. Hope you enjoy it. Please leave some reviews, I really appreciate them. Much Respect, River

I'm sitting miserably in my first hour class. It's the first day of my junior year at my new school, but at least it's everybody else's first day too. I just moved to Detroit with my dad two days ago. I hate always starting new schools, but I guess at least this time I'm not "middle of the year" new.

I tap my pen impatiently and stare at my desk as the students begin the fill the room. I curse internally as I observe my new classmates. It's just like every other high school I've gone to. There are the pretty and popular girls, the athletic kids, the burnouts, the stoners, the punks, and the geeks. I hate the stereotypes that surround me, mostly because I don't really fit into any of them.

I guess I'm closest to the "punks" if I had to choose. I have shoulder-length, blonde hair with black streaks in it. It's chopped into several different layers and always gives me that "just got out of bed" look. My clothes are from thrift stores; today is a pair of baggy jeans, a plain long-sleeved black shirt, and my old ripped up Chuck Taylor's. The best thing about having a dad that doesn't care about me is that I've been able to pierce my eyebrow and my lip and have seven piercings in my ears and an industrial bar. I plan on getting some tattoos soon too. I'm disrespectful and rude, but that's just my personality.

The bell rings and the teacher instructs the class to take our seats. Just as everyone begins to quiet down the door swings open and a teenager walks in, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He is tall and thin with blonde hair that sticks out in all directions. He walks into the classroom like he owns the place and plops down in the desk in front of me. The teacher glares at him for a moment before speaking. "Cigarette, Mr. Mercer."

"My bad," the kid says sarcastically as he takes his cigarette out of his mouth and smashes it on the tile floor. The teacher glares for a few more minutes before finally turning to the board to begin. I sit and doodle aimlessly on my notebook, not caring what's happening around me. I want to get out, I want so badly to go back to Minnesota where I had friends. I'm thinking about my old town and my friends when the room is filled with useless chatter and noise again. Apparently the lesson is down.

The boy in front of me turns around and puts his hands on my desk. "You're new here, right?"

"Yeah, I just moved here." He holds his hand out. "Jack Mercer." I take it reluctantly and shake it.

"Berlin Stiles."

"So where are you from?" He takes me notebook and examines my drawing.

"Everywhere. But I moved from Minnesota." We sit there for the rest of the class period talking about nothing important. It turns out Jack likes music and art just as much as I do. He tells me that he has a guitar and he writes music, which I think is really awesome. If I had a guitar I would love to write songs. The bell rings signaling the end of class. Jack and I get up and I wander my way to my next class.

I walk into the cafeteria that day and start to panic as I realize I don't have anyone to sit with. I should have just skipped lunch since I don't have money to eat anyway, but when I try to leave the room a teacher stops me at the door.

"Are you a senior?"

"No, junior."

"Only seniors get open lunch." He stares at me for a minute until I back down. It's not worth arguing about. I make my way farther into the cafeteria looking to see if I can find Jack anywhere. Maybe he'd let me sit with him. I'm just about to turn around the try to leave out a different door when I hear a voice to my left.

"Hey, Berlin!" I turn and see Jack and a few other people sitting at a table. He waves me over to them and pulls out a chair as I approach. "Hey," I say as I sit down.

"Guys, this is Berlin," Jack begins. "She just moved here. That's Ryan, Nikki, Lyric, Tyler and A.J." He points to each person as he says their name and they wave or say some sort of greeting to me. They seem okay, but I don't like how they keep watching me like I'm going to drive a knife in their back or something.

The rest of my day goes fairly normally. Nothing too exciting. As I'm leaving my locker after my last class Jack comes up to me. "Hey," he says casually.

"Hey," I reply, slamming my locker closed and turning to face him.

"What are you doing now?" he asks.

I shrug. "Going home I guess."

"Want to skip that and hang at my place for a while?" I almost jump from the excitement of not having to go home right away, but I contain myself. "Sure," I reply as we begin to walk. Anything to keep me away from home for just a little longer. We walk for a few blocks before turning to approach a warm looking house. Jack swings the door open and ushers me inside.

"Home!" he yells into the house. A woman appears from somewhere inside wearing an apron and carrying a towel. She looks like she's probably in her fifties. Her eyes are soft and kind looking and she gives me a smile.

"Who's your friend, dear?"

"Mom, Berlin. Berlin, my mom," Jack says, swinging his arms back and forth. His mom takes a step towards me and shakes my hand.

"Hi Berlin, I'm Evelyn." I nod my head. She and Jack exchange a few words, mostly about school, before she returns into the house and I follow Jack upstairs into a bedroom. It's small, but it seems about the perfect size for Jack. I see his guitar sitting in the far corner and he has band posters covering the walls. I take a seat on the floor as he puts in a CD. We sit there and talk for a while, still mostly about music, but then there's a knock on the door.

"Keep it clean, Jackie!" somebody yells.

"Fuck you, man!" is Jack's reply as he smiles.

"Who's that?" I question.

"My brother, Angel." I ask Jack how many people live in his house and he tells me five, him, his mom, and his three brothers, Bobby, Jerry, and Angel. I ask about his dad and he tells me that he was adopted. That must be why Evelyn looks a little bit old to have a son Jack's age. I think about how lucky he must be to have been adopted into a family like this. And I wish I could be someday.

There is another knock on the door and Evelyn pokes her head in. "Berlin, are you joining us for dinner?" I look at the clock and realize I was supposed to be home an hour ago.

"Shit!" I yell, jumping up from the floor. I notice the stunned look on Evelyn's face. "I mean, no thanks. I was supposed to be home a long time ago. See you, Jack. Nice to meet you Miss Evelyn." With that I run out the door and outside. I run all the way across town to my apartment building, panic running through me the whole time.

As I slowly approach the building I think about what's about to happen. My apartment is a dump, even though we've only lived there two days. There will be trash and beer cans everywhere and the mold will still be stuck to the kitchen counter. My father will be drunk, maybe even high on something, and furious that I'm late and wasn't home to make his dinner.

I shudder and dash up the three flights of stairs and stop in front of the door. I take a breath and try to calm my mind, and then I open it. I fall to the floor as soon as I enter from my father's fist colliding with my face. He grabs me by the arm and pulls me up off the floor.

"Where have you been?" he screams. I look up at him, blood trickling from my nose, and try to explain, only be to cut off by more screaming and a few more punches. Then he drags me into my bedroom and shoves me inside. At least tonight wasn't as bad as I expected.

I come to school the next day with a new black eye. I tried to cover it with makeup, but I didn't have enough. I know Jack will ask, so I try to come up with some excuses while I wait in our first hour class for him. I don't want to lie to him, I really don't, but he won't understand. It's always the same.

I look up from my desk as he comes in late, and I determine that this is a habit of his. He sits down in his desk and looks at me. "Hey."

"Hey."

"What the hell happened to your face?" He sounds concerned. Here it is, my big lie. "Nothing, I just got jumped on the way home from your house yesterday." He looks me dead in the eyes, sighs, and turns around. I know he doesn't believe me.


	2. Chapter 2

I'm laying on my bed and the only thing I can think of 'why?'. Why do some people have kids when they never wanted them? Why does cancer attack some of the most innocent people in the world? Why must I be forced to lie to my new friends? I know it's childish to ask so many questions, especially when none of them have answers, but I can't stop them from filling my mind. I sigh and reach for a framed picture that is sitting on my nightstand. It's a picture of my mom and I when I was three. This only brings more questions. Why did she have to commit suicide? Why did she leave me here alone?

I jump as I hear the apartment door slam. Great, my dad's home. I look at my clock. It's almost 1:30 in the morning, and it's Monday. I lay silently in my bed, hoping he'll pass out before long and just leave me alone. I'm supposed to meet Jack, Lyric, Nikki, A.J., Tyler and Ryan in an hour but I don't know if I can sneak out with my father awake.

My door flies open and my dad comes storming in, beer bottle in hand. He stumbles slightly and drops the bottle on my floor. I try to slide the picture under my pillow so he can't see it. It makes him furious to think about my mom. But he sees it and rips it out of my hand. I watch as he examines it. Suddenly he chucks the frame at me and it hits me hard in the face. The glass shatters everywhere and cuts my cheek. I jump up off the bed and try to walk toward the door but I'm stopped by my dad's strong grip on my arm. He pulls me backwards and holds me firmly so I'm looking right in his face.

"Where do you think you're going?" I stare defiantly at him.

"Let go," I say calmly. I rarely stand up to my dad, but tonight I just don't want to deal with him. He squeezes my arm harder and I know it will leave a bruise.

"I'm going to teach you some respect," he growls. He shoves me to the ground and kicks me hard in the ribs. Normally I would just lie there and take it, but for some reason, maybe because I'm crazy or because the thought of getting stoned with my friends sounds so good, I jump up and push my father away from me. Without thinking I grab my shoes from my floor and run out of my room.

"Berlin!" I hear my father screaming behind me. "If you leave, you ain't coming back!" I keep running. I'd rather take my chances than stay here with him. I run for a few blocks before stopping to put on my shoes. I'm still dressed in my clothes from earlier today, but now I have a new blood stain on the sleeve. I stand up after tying my shoe and walk to the place where I'm meeting my friends. Lyric and Nikki are there already and the others show up a little later.

"What happened to your face this time?" Jack asks. I completely forgot about it until just now. Leave it to Jack to ask. None of my other friends ask, they just leave it alone and I wish Jack were more like that. Why does he always try to be such a goddamn saint? I don't even try to make up an excuse this time. He never believes me anyway.

Minutes later the seven of us are sitting in an empty parking lot smoking pot and snorting coke. It feels so great to get high and escape my life. I've gotten high with these guys before and it's always the same. Nikki and Ryan make out for a while then ditch the rest of us. Lyric and Tyler are pretty out of it and don't really say much. Jack is just kind of there. He eventually puts on his headphones and passes out. I don't like getting stoned with A.J. He turns into a total ass. I usually get in a fight with him, sometimes even physical, because I'm the only one who won't take his shit. But by the next day he always forgets about it anyway.

Nikki and Ryan have left and Jack is on the verge of passing out when parking lot is suddenly filled with headlights. "Shit, it's the cops," Lyric mumbles. Jack stands up quickly and stumbles a little. "No, it's worse." And he's right. The car turns off and Jack's oldest brother, Bobby, gets out.

"What the hell, Jackie?" He takes the joint away from Jack. "I thought you got off this shit, man." He sounds more disappointed than angry as he tells Jack to get in the car. "The rest of you little shits need to get your asses home," he orders before getting in the car and driving away.

I burst out laughing hysterically once the car is out of sight. Jack hates it when his brothers keep him from having fun. I tease him about it a lot, but I actually wonder what it would be like to have someone care that much. Someone who cares enough to come out in the middle of Detroit at three in the morning just to make sure you're not doing drugs.

Everyone starts to leave after Jack is picked up and I slowly make my way home. I'm considering staying out all night, but I don't really have anywhere to go. I know my father will be passed out by the time I get home anyway.

I enter the apartment quietly and see my dad asleep on the couch. He is surrounded by beer bottles and puke. I know I should clean it up but it's his own fault so I'll leave it until tomorrow. I step carefully into my room, trying not to step on any of the broken glass from earlier. I reach down and pick up the destroyed picture frame from the floor. I sigh as I take the picture out of the frame and crawl into my bed. I hold the picture tightly in my arms, thinking about how my life used to be, and quickly drift away into a restless sleep.

It's the next day at school and I sit down with my friends in the cafeteria. My eyes are bloodshot, mostly from my lack of sleep. The entire lunchroom suddenly falls quiet.

"Hey Stiles," a mean voice says behind me. I turn around. It's Josh Hitchings, the biggest jock in the whole school. I stand up, wondering why the hell he's talking to me. "What do you want?" I ask casually.

"I just have a question." He has an evil look in his eyes and his friends gather behind him. "Why the fuck did I see your dad leaving Lefty's at one o'clock this morning?" He says it loud enough for everyone to hear and they all listen intently. Lefty's is my dad's new favorite bar.

"He was banging your mom," I say sarcastically. Josh turns to one of his friends, unfazed by my comment. "Don't you think he should use his money to fix up that shithole apartment?" His friend laughs and nods in agreement.

"Shut up," I state boldly, my fists clenching at my sides.

"What's matter?" he mocks. "It's true, isn't it? Typical white trash." He starts to walk away but suddenly stops and looks back at me. "No wonder your mom shot herself. I guess I would too if my husband was an alcoholic and I had a crack whore for a daughter."

Something inside me snaps and I leap on top of him, tackling him to the ground. He's more than twice my size but he goes down easily, obviously caught off guard. His face explodes into a mixture of blood and snot as I punch him over and over. I'm taken aback slightly when he reaches up and punches me in the eye. It doesn't hurt and I just keep attacking him. A large crowd forms around us. Some people are cheering and chanting, others are calling for teachers to stop me.

"Berlin!" Jack's panicked voice pulls me out of my trance and I stop beating Josh. I lean down close to his bloody face and speak, just loudly enough for him to hear. "Say whatever the fuck you want to say about me, but don't' you _ever_ mention my mother again." With that I get off him and quickly push my way through the crowd before anyone has a chance to see the tears forming in my eyes.

I hear everyone whispering about me as I pass. Nobody follows me as I leave the school. Well, except for Jack. He runs to catch up with me and looks kind of surprised to see the tears flowing down my cheeks. There's only one thing in this world that can make me cry, and that's my mom.

"Hey, don't worry about Josh. He's just an asshole," Jack says, gently taking my hand in his. I stop walking and look at him.

"But it's all true!" I don't mean to yell, I just can't contain these emotions that are eating away at me. "Really?" Jack asks carefully. We'd talked about a lot of things, but I never told him about my dad's drinking, our shitty apartment, or my mom's suicide. I silently nod my head. Jack and I stare at each other for a moment before he pulls into a tight hug. I'm not really one for hugging, but I allow my face to burry itself in his shoulder. "Let's go to my house," he says softly and we begin to walk, hand in hand, to his house, where everything always feels safe and right.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note: **Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them! Hope you guys had a good New Years. A lot of this is based off of my personal experiences, so hopefully I do a good job describing stuff. Let me know what you think. Much Respect, River

I'm laying in Jack's bed trying to sleep. I've stayed the night here before and I love it. The house is quiet other than Bobby's loud snoring, and Evelyn will make breakfast in the morning. Not to mention the fact that the house is clean and smells nice. It's a Friday night so I know my dad won't even notice I'm gone, which is fine with me. I'm about to dose off into sleep when I hear voices coming from Evelyn's room across the hall.

"Ma, I'm worried about Berlin." I shudder when I hear Jack say my name. What is he going to tell her? What if he tells her I do drugs? She won't let him hang out with me anymore. Or if he tells her I sometimes skip school or stay out all night? She'll think I'm a bad influence.

"What makes you say that, dear?" she sounds concerned but tired. Maybe she'll be too tired to remember what they talked about later.

"You saw her black eye today. And how thin she is." I hear him sigh.

"Yes, but Berlin's a tough girl. I wouldn't be surprised if she gets in more fights than she tells you about." There is a shuffle sound and I know it's Jack getting irritated. He moves a lot when he gets upset.

"Mom, she's a good liar, but I've been where she is. I can see what's behind her smile." I've never heard Jack sound so wise before. "Can't you at least do _something_? Just to be sure."

Evelyn sighs and says, "Ok, Jackie. I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"Okay," he whispers. Then I hear some shuffling and the door closes. I assume he's going back to the couch. He always makes me sleep in his bed when I stay over and he takes the couch. I tell him he doesn't have to, but he insists.

I hold the picture of my mom and I in my arms. I've decided to keep it with me at all times, because if my dad gets a hold of it again I know he'll destroy it. And it's the last one I have of her. I close my eyes and listen to the annoying sounds of Bobby's snoring as I fall asleep.

I wake up the next morning and see Jack standing in the corner of the room pulling his shirt off. He doesn't notice I'm awake.

"Morning, sexy," I say sarcastically. He whips around to face me and smiles.

"Hey." He finishes putting on his new shirt and bends down to pick up something off the floor. "I think this is yours," he says, handing me the picture. I guess it fell out of the bed while I was sleeping. I take from him and shove it into my pocket.

"Who is it," he asks.

"My mom," I say simply and get up off the bed. Jack and I walk downstairs into the kitchen where Evelyn is placing eggs, bacon, and pancakes on the table. She smiles when we enter and bids us good morning. A few minutes later Bobby comes in.

"Good morning, fairies." I glare at him for a few minutes before giving him the finger. Bobby likes to tease Jack and I, but I don't take his shit. He smiles slightly before stuffing a piece of bacon in his mouth. I make a noise and he grins. "What? Gross you out, Ms. Vegetarian?"

I shake my head in disgrace. "Murderer," I mumble. I haven't eaten meat in over a year. It's just wrong.

"Bobby, leave her alone," Jack says. I love it when he stands up for me.

"What, Cracker Jack? You can't be into her, right? I mean, I thought you like dudes." Jack's face hardens.

"Boys, that's enough," Evelyn says before anything progresses. We sit down to eat our breakfast in silence. Jeremiah joins us minutes after we've started and everyone knows that Angel won't be found awake until after one on a Saturday.

Jack and I return to his room after breakfast. We listen to some music and talk a little. I want to ask him about the conversation I overheard last night, but I'm afraid. If I bring it up he'll ask a ton of questions and it will just end badly. We talk for a while longer and then I glance at the clock. 10 AM.

"I should probably go home," I say, standing up from my spot on the bed. I know my dad will either be just waking up or getting home from a night out any minute. Maybe he'd never know I was gone if I was there when he woke up. Or before he came home. I'm never sure if he'll be home on a Friday night or not.

Jack stands up too. "I'll walk you," he says.

"No, that's okay." If by some chance my dad sees us together I know I'll get in a lot of trouble. And so will Jack.

"No, B. I'll walk you. Come on," he says as he grabs his jacket and walks out the door. He can be so stubborn sometimes.

Shortly after we are walking toward my apartment building. Jack has never seen the inside of my apartment, and I don't plan to let him any time soon. "I can take it from here," I say as we approach the building.

"Let me walk you to your door at least." I sigh, but I don't bother arguing. I know he won't back down. So we walk up the three flights of stairs and stop outside my door. I stop and look at Jack and he looks at me. We just stand there starring at each other for what feels like hours. I see him lean in, his eyes slightly glossy, and I know he's going to kiss me but a loud voice forces him to pull away.

"Who the hell are you?" My angry, drunken father comes tearing down the hall and shoves Jack out of his way.

"Dad, this is my friend Jack," I say quietly, looking down at my feet. This is so embarrassing.

My dad unlocks the door and grabs me by my arm. "Get inside," he hisses. Then he turns his attention to Jack. "Stay the fuck away from my daughter." He shoves me inside the apartment and I get a quick glance at Jack's angry face before my dad slams the door.

He turns to me, grabbing me by the neck, and pushing me against the wall. "If I see you with that kid again I'll kill him, got it?" I nod my head fearfully and he lets go of my neck only to grab me by my wrist. I let out a cry of pain as he flings me to the floor. My wrist makes a terrible cracking sound as it his the table on my way down.

I look down in disbelief at my arm as pain tingles up and down. There is a bone sticking out of my deformed wrist and blood is spewing out everywhere.

"Shit," my dad says, sounding a little panicked. I cower away as he leans down close to me. "I'm taking you to the hospital, you need to get that fixed. You slipped on the ice."

I nod my head. "What are you going to tell the doctors?" he asks. I don't answer fast enough and he slaps my cheek. "Say it!"

"I slipped on the ice," I say, trying to hide the quiver in my voice and the tears in my eyes.


End file.
